Amanda Holden said she was "moments from death" after losing more than 13 litres of blood following the birth of her daughter.

The actress and Britain's Got Talent judge told The Sun Sunday that her heart stopped for 40 seconds and it was "touch and go" whether she lived or died shortly after the birth of baby Hollie.

In a candid interview with the new Sunday tabloid, the 40-year-old said her husband Chris Hughes did not know whether she was alive or dead for seven minutes.

The front page of the new title features an exclusive interview with Holden, the first after the birth of her daughter, which left her in a critical condition in hospital.

The story is headlined "My Heart Stopped For 40 Seconds", and is accompanied by a picture of Holden cradling her daughter Hollie.

The mother-of-two said that shortly after she gave birth to the baby by caesarean section at lunch time on January 23, one week before her due date, she started to haemorrhage.

Her husband was ordered from the room as doctors frantically tried to save her life.

She told the newspaper: "There was a moment where they said I had flatlined for 40 seconds, my heart stopped and I was literally moments from death. It was touch and go. As much blood as they were putting into me was going out. It just would not clot. I lost about 13-15 litres of it all-in-all.

"For seven minutes Chris didn't know if I was alive or dead. They literally ran out of my blood group in London they had them on mopeds coming from everywhere with it."